Accidental fires in clinical laboratories.
Arch Pathol Lab Med
; 117(12): 1200-4, 1993 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-8250687
ABSTRACT
The National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Mass, estimates that 169 fires have occurred annually in health care, medical, and chemical laboratories. On the average, there are 13 civilian injuries and $1.5 million per year in direct property damage. Most fires in which the cause or ignition source can be identified originate in malfunctioning electrical equipment (41.6%) or in the facility's electrical distribution system (14.7%). The prevalence of fire safety deficiencies was measured in the College of American Pathologists Laboratory Accreditation Program. Of the 1732 inspected laboratories, 5.5% lacked records of electrical receptacle polarity and ground checks in the preceding year. Of these inspected laboratories, 4.7% had no or incomplete documentation of electrical safety checks on laboratory instruments. There was no evidence of quarterly fire exit drills in 9% of the laboratories. Deficiencies were also found in precautionary labeling (6.8%), in periodic review of safe work practices (4.2%), in the use of safety cans (3.7%), and in venting of flammable liquid storage areas (2.8%). Fire preparedness would be improved if all clinical laboratories had smoke detectors and automatic fire-extinguishing systems. In-service training courses in fire safety should be targeted to the needs of specific service areas.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Patologia Clínica
/
Incêndios
/
Laboratórios
Tipo de estudo:
Risk_factors_studies
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
1993
Tipo de documento:
Article